Chapter 40.1
After the end of the first stage of Qingsi, the second stage immediately followed.
The witch wearing a hood led everyone up the stairs to the high place of the Great Witch Temple.
Zong Luo also followed behind Emperor Yuan step by step.
He didn’t know if it was his misconception, but he felt that his father’s walking speed seemed to be deliberately at a slow pace a lot today.
Not only did his walking speed slow, but even the steps that were always light after practicing martial arts had become much heavier, allowing him to clearly hear which step the next step would land on.
Emperor Yuan once fought on the battlefield, and was well-known in various countries, his martial arts skills were naturally not much worse. Even after he ascended the throne, it was said that he still had the habit of exercising every morning. Over the years, his strength had not declined much, and he often exchanged a few moves with the imperial palace experts.
In the early years, various countries sent assassins to assassinate him, but as a result, the assassins did not even get to carry out three moves.
Could it be because he spit out blood today in anger, that’s why he is not feeling well?
Before Zong Luo could figure out why, the staircase came to an end.
In the center of the Great Witch Temple was a wide opening, with the ten-thousand-year-old tree planted inside.
The ten-thousand-year-old tree had been planted here since the beginning of Hongmeng, and it had experienced wind and rain for an unknown number of years. It was said that the branches that took root below the light could cover the entire ground of the Great Witch Temple, while the wide leaves above covered the sky and the sun, thus not needing to build another roof at all.
It snowed last night, and now it’s rare for the sun to shine again. The snow on the tiles on the top of the witch temple melted, it dripped down, swam and fell in the corners of the eaves into clean snow pools.
The next step was to pray for blessings.
Wearing a hood and holding a bone joint long staff, the Great Witch stood on the altar under the ten-thousand-year-old tree, arms raised high, facing the direction of the sun, while the mouth moved from the chanting of unknown and obscure ballads. The tone of voice was sometimes high and sometimes low, which was extremely weird.
The witch stood behind the chimes, and the ethereal knocking sound lingered in the clouds and mist in the mountains.
The ten-thousand-year-old tree was adorned with strings of fruits swaying in the wind. Going higher, because of absorbing nutrients from sunlight and other fruits, only fewer strings of fruits were successfully formed. At the same time, the color also becomes more sheer, from orange yellow to golden yellow, which was too beautiful to be absorbed all at once.
These fruits were called Fuze fruits, they never fall naturally, and only fall after drying and withering. They’re an extremely precious witchcraft medicine. (TL: Good Fortune fruits)
One wouldn’t think so from a distance, and only by walking in front of this tree, would one know how big the tree was.
The ray’s height was more than 60 meters, and it would take dozens of people to encircle around it.
After walking up, all the princes who had their own thoughts just now cheered up one after another.
This segment of the whole Qingsi period was the most important segment for them.
Archery was the reserved program for Qingsi every year. It was said that because Zong family ancestors once applied nectar to the almost dried up ten-thousand-year-old tree, this was the reason why they’re blessed by it, and that during Qingsi, they could shoot down Fuze fruits.
Everyone present was assigned three arrows, and the more Fuze fruits were shot down, the more things would go smoothly for oneself. If one could hit nine in a row, it meant that heaven had blessed the Great Yuan, which was a sign of great auspiciousness.
If one wanted to hit nine with three arrows, each arrow would need to hit three fruits in a row, the difficulty couldn’t be said to be not that big.
Great Yuan’s choice of the crown prince had always been under the label of “heavenly choice”. Whether it was the final decision of the Witch Sacrificial Ceremony, or countless previous references to history, it all indicated this point.
Even if either the Fifth or Sixth seized the throne or returned it, in the end, apart from Emperor Yuan’s attitude, it still depended on the result of the sacrificial ceremony. However, the other party involved, the Great Witch, was hard to get in touch with on ordinary days, thus he could only perform well today, not for anything else, but to leave a good impression. Obtaining good luck was not bad either.
They practiced archery hard, just for today.
Especially the Fifth Prince, Zong Yuanwu, he was even more eager to try. He picked up his own crossbow weighing three stones on one side and began to look for a suitable place to settle and aim.
Zong Yongliu was also unwilling to show weakness. He was no better than Zong Yuanwu, who had been practicing martial arts since childhood. At most, he could only pull a crossbow that weighs two stones, but no matter how bad he was, he must do his best, and shouldn’t be underestimated. Even if he fell short, it shouldn’t be too much, at least he shouldn’t lose face. Thus he followed suit as early as possible and occupied a position.
As for Zong Hongjiu, he had just got a glimpse of a big secret just now, and was not in the mood at the moment, besides, he was still young. He didn’t do well in school on weekdays, and often escaped from martial arts practice. He only learned a hundred percent of the things that children of rich families do. Anyhow, he was not yet very old, no one expected him to be able to shoot down a Fuze fruit. Just simply shoot three arrows hastily, it would be considered as completion.
Zong Chengsi continued to implement his doctrine of the golden mean. One of the three arrows hit, not bad either. (TL: the golden mean-a confucian term advocating impartiality, reconciliation and compromise)
At this moment, the hundred students who were only allowed to stand far below to watch just now had also entered the arena one after another.
When they entered the Great Witch Temple, they belonged to the last batch, which was after the courtiers and didn’t know anything about major events such as the return of the Third Prince. At present, they were only excitedly fiddling with the bows and arrows in their hands. planning to seize this opportunity to be favored by a noble in one fell swoop
Taking advantage of the archery, Zong Luo quietly stood aside.
Because of his death escape in the previous life, many ceremonies had been postponed, the most important of which were the witch ceremony that should have been held at the end of this year, as well as the year-end Qingsi.
(TL: death escape-if someone encounters something that cannot be handled, he uses “fake death” to avoid it, and then starts a new life. It is called death escape, that is, cheating death and concealing one’s name.)
In previous years, Zong Luo had accomplished a feat of shooting down eight pieces with three shots.
Although he didn’t intend to participate now, the witch on the side still prepared bow and arrows for him.
Now that all had been brought over, Zong Luo couldn’t help but take them.
Pei Qianxue, who had never practiced martial arts, frowned at the object that seemed to weigh heavily in his hand. Seeing it, he was ready to come over, but unexpectedly, another person was quick to move first.
Yu Beizhou, who had a ghost mask on his face like everyone else, leaned over, “This gentleman, I trust you have been well since the last time we met.”
His gaze as if it existed and full of vigor, fell on the slender neck of the prince in white. Looking at the slightly bloodied bandage on the surface, his smile became even more pronounced.
In full view of everyone, Zong Luo could only say, “You Royal Highness.”
He was not dead, he could feel Yu Beizhou’s gaze that harbored malicious intentions. Just now, as the Qingsi started, he felt like thorns were stuck on his back causing the increasingly stinging of the wound on his neck that was bitten open by someone, to ache faintly.
As long as he closed his eyes, Zong Luo could still feel the moment when the other party’s scorching lips and teeth bit open his neck.
Yu Beizhou’s tiger teeth were very sharp, probably belonging to a dog. With just a gentle bite, it simply pierced through the fragile skin, embedding into the flesh and blood. The tip of his hot tongue pressed against his pulsating carotid artery, sweeping away the rushing blood, as if savoring delicious food.
For a moment, Zong Luo really felt that he was going to be swallowed alive by Yu Beizhou, an illusion of being devoured into the stomach, which even made his soul tremble.
Everyone knew that Yu Beizhou was abnormal, but it was because of this abnormality that people really didn’t dare to say anything.
